Franklin County sheriff, deputy face criminal charges

Franklin County Sheriff Sheriff Jeffry D. Curry was arrested and charged Wednesday with felony interference with a law enforcement officer (false report) and misdemeanor official misconduct. He was booked into the Wyandotte County detention center.

Jerrod W. Fredricks, a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy and public information officer, was arrested and charged Wednesday with felony interference with law enforcement. He was booked into the Wyandotte County detention center.

The Franklin County sheriff and his public information officer, who are facing charges from Kansas Bureau of Investigation probe, bonded out of jail late Wednesday.

Sheriff Jeff Curry has been charged with felony counts of official misconduct and making a false report. The office’s public information officer, deputy Jerrod Fredricks, faces a misdemeanor charge of making a false report.

The Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case as well as seeking an ouster for the sheriff.

A complaint from the office states that Curry and Fredricks made their alleged false reports on Sept. 27, 2012 — the same month the KBI probe began. Curry’s official misconduct charge stems from a May 30 incident, according to the complaint. No specific information was released.

The complaint lists about 13 witnesses, including such notable Franklin County officials as former County Attorney Heather Jones, who currently works for the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office, and Ottawa Police Lt. Adam Weingartner.

The Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office announced the arrests Wednesday in a news release.

The charges were the culmination of an investigation by the KBI, with the assistance from the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, that began in September 2012.

According to state statute, Curry and Fredricks are accused of falsely reporting to a law enforcement officer or state investigative agency “information, knowing that such information is false and intending to influence, impede or obstruct such officer’s or agency’s duty.”

Curry’s official misconduct charge alleges he unlawfully used “confidential information acquired in the course of” his duties “the private benefit or gain” of himself or another public employee.

The charges were filed Wednesday in Franklin County District Court. The case will be handled by Todd Hiatt, Shawnee County senior district attorney.

Also, Franklin County Attorney Stephen Hunting filed a petition for ouster. Shawnee County will handle that matter, too, at the request of Franklin County authorities.

The news release indicated Hunting appointed the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office as a special prosecutor to assist in the KBI’s investigation.

Lt. Kelli Bailiff, public information officer for the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office, said Curry and Fredricks were in the process of bonding out of jail there shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday.

KBI agents made the arrests and brought the men to the Wyandotte County facility about 2:30 p.m., Bailiff said.

Curry was to be freed on $3,000 bond and Fredricks on $1,500 bond. The bonds stipulate that Curry and Fredricks can’t be in possession of a firearm and prohibited them from talking to witnesses about the case.

According to The Ottawa Herald, Lisa Johnson, Franklin County’s administrator and counselor, said statutorily the county clerk “assumes the responsibilities of the sheriff, so long as he’s in custody.” However, she said, the sheriff “would again be responsible for the duties of sheriff” if released from custody.

How that would be possible without a firearm, however, wasn’t immediately clear.